Mississippi State Football: Not Time to Jump Off the Ledge Yet

After a heartbreaking and demoralizing 21-20 loss to South Alabama Saturday afternoon, Bulldog fans have been wanting to jump off the ledge for this season. But it’s not quite time to jump off the Mississippi State Football ship just yet.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, but Rome might have had some strong guys who helped speed up the process at times. Dak Prescott was that strong guy for the Mississippi State Football legacy, aka Rome. Now I’m not saying that we CAN’T do anything about the current situation, but winning seasons have been made up of much less for sure.

Offense

We have more than likely solved our Quarterback race with Damian Williams, who Mississippi State football fans should be behind 100% if he takes the field as the starter Saturday against 1-0 South Carolina. If this is the case, then that’s a sign from head coach Dan Mullen that Damian will be the man this season. Nick Fitzgerald started the game Saturday, but struggled to bring life into the offense.

Defense

On the defensive side of the ball, Senior defensive lineman A.J. Jefferson was the stalwart most saw him being this season. The 6′ 3″, 280 pound Senior from Summit, MS was one of a very few disruptive forces for the Bulldog defense. His game was able to stifle many of the chances by the Jaguar offense to make the game harder for the Bulldogs to react to by the end of it. To add to Jefferson’s ability, senior Linebacker Richie Brown was able to provide leadership for the defensive side of the ball, often being the last man able to make a play on the ball.

Special Teams

Special teams wise, many will immediately look at the last field goal attempted by Westin Graves. While that may be the defining moment of the game for many outside of the Bulldog faithful, one has to look to other opportunities that Graves cashed in on. In the first half, Graves ended up completing the drive with a phenomenal 48 yard field goal that went straight through. Add in the punts, which barring the tipped punt, was one of the strongest points in the game. With punts averaging 40+ yards per attempt, and one phenomenal punt that pinned the Jaguars on their own 1/2 yard line, Logan Cooke was able to flip the field with ease and precision.

All in all, the game was not what we truly wanted to see from this Bulldog squad. But maybe expectations were high following the departure of arguably the best player in Mississippi State football history. With this in mind, don’t jump off that ledge just yet. We have a lot of football left to go, and to judge a team off of the first game is a poor decision 99% of the time. Next up is a South Carolina team that barely squeaked out a victory against Vanderbilt. SEC Nation will be in town, and a prime-time slot on ESPN2 will be awaiting the Bulldogs and Gamecocks with first-year coach Will Muschamp.